Harry Potter - Gift of a new life
by shishir
Summary: 10 years after the war, Harry finds himself at death's door. Given the opportunity, he chooses to go to another dimension. His parents are alive. Neville is the boy-who-lived. No fixed pairing yet. AU. Harry will retain all knowledge and power. What changes will Harry bring about, in this new world? Will he fight Voldemort again, or will he leave it to the new BWL?


**Summary**

This is a story where a 27 year old Harry Potter is transported to another dimension, where he is not the boy-who-lived, and his parents are still alive.

I know that there are many stories out there which use the same concept. I hope that as I write this story, I can move away from clichéd ideas, and bring some original elements into it.

I welcome constructive criticism. I spell-check my stories before publishing them, but no matter how hard I try, some mistakes always go through. If you do come across any errors, please feel free to point them out, and I'll try my best to correct them.

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Harry Potter the series or any characters within it. I do not seek to profit in any way from this story. It is merely a piece written for personal satisfaction and others' reading pleasure.

**Chapter 1**

Harry James Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. The Chosen One. The Master of Death. The Savior. There were a few other names he was known by, but he had long since stopped bothering with whatever monikers society chose to bestow upon him. It had been 10 years since he defeated Voldemort. His friends had drifted away from him, getting busy with their own lives. Hermione had reconnected with her parents after lifting the memory modification enchantment she had placed upon them, and had subsequently moved away from Britain. Ron had let the new found fame go to his head, and had ended up becoming no better than Draco Malfoy. Neville had become a professor at Hogwarts, and Luna had left to travel the world to research strange and new creatures. Harry had never been particularly close to any of his other classmates.

Not wanting to stay in Britain due to the constant adulation, he too had chosen to spend the time travelling the world, learning anything and everything that caught his fancy. He had learned the different ways of wielding magic used across the world, researched old and forgotten magic from various cultures, learned various languages, and had even spent a year learning hand-to-hand combat and armed combat. He had travelled to places more beautiful than he could have ever imagined as a child, and had expanded his horizons beyond what he could've done staying in Britain alone.

Now, 10 years later, he stood where it all began for him. He was standing upon a small rocky island a little ways out in the sea. Behind him stood a small shack where his Uncle Vernon had brought his family and him, in an attempt to keep him away from the magical world.

He had been standing at the same place for the last few hours, lost in thought, reminiscing about old times. His eyes widened when, without warning, a pulse of excruciating pain spread out from his chest and blood flew out his mouth, as a bullet entered his back and tore through his flesh. He hardly had any time to understand what happened, when two more bullets ripped through him, sending shrapnel and bone fragments through his vital organs.

He fell to his knees as he felt his strength leave him. He managed to turn around and lean back upon a rock lying next to him. He gazed upon his assailant, silently assessing him. The attacker just stood there with an expression of satisfaction and relief on his face. He spit out another glob of blood before saying, "Hello Dudley."

Dudley Dursley, his cousin, just smirked and replied, "Hello Potter. Surprised?"

"Yes.", replied Harry, although he was not surprised at the fact that his cousin wanted him dead. Sometime towards the end of the war, Death Eaters had found the Dursley family and killed them in an attempt to find Harry. Dudley had always blamed him for it, and sworn that he would kill him. No, the surprise wasn't that Dudley wanted him dead. The surprise was that he succeeded.

"Good.", replied Dudley, his smirk widening.

"Tell me", asked Harry, "How did you do it? How did you find me? How did you approach me, without alerting me?"

"I swore to kill you all those years back, but I knew that as long as you had your magic I could never hope to even come close to you. I knew that I would need help. I knew that I had to somehow even the playing field. I knew where dad used to go to pick you up at the end of every school year. I also knew that you were somewhat famous in your world.

It took me a year to even find some of your people, but I did. I made a few acquaintances claiming to be your distant cousin, so that I could get some information on you.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you were not just moderately well known, as I expected, but actually hailed as a hero. The Savior; isn't that what they called you?"

Dudley chuckled and continued, "People do not become famous without making a few enemies, Potter. I gained entry into your world claiming to be a squib. I ventured into dark corners of your society, trying to find people who would help me with my task. I had to be careful, of course. I had to make sure that I don't blabber to the wrong people. It took a while, but I did find a few who were interested. We spent years tracking you down. We knew you were too strong to face in a normal fight. We knew that surprising you was the only option that could work."

Turning serious he continued, "We knew as soon as your entered Britain a few days back. Getting too close to you would've been a mistake. We used omnioculars to observe you from a distance. When you approached the coast, I knew you would probably be coming here, so I waited, and here we are. I had to hide underground to avoid your sight, in case you could see through invisibility cloaks. Every item on my body, including the gun, has silencing charms on it. There is also some magic on me to help avoid detection."

Harry could feel the darkness creeping into his vision, and knew his time was short. He coughed out some more blood before replying, "Most impressive, Dudley. However, in the end, you ended up using exactly what made you and your family hate me in the first place."

Dudley's face contorted in anger, and Harry braced himself for more shots, but much to Harry's surprise, he managed to calm down before replying softly, "It doesn't matter. I have done all this to kill you, not because of some misguided hatred towards magic itself, but because of what happened to my family for taking you in."

"I see", replied Harry, "Are you satisfied?"

Dudley smirked again, and said "Very much."

Harry couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that. After a moment of silence, Dudley said "I'm going to leave now. Don't worry; you will not survive this. The bullets are coated in poison, and are specially designed to leave shrapnel in the body when they hit… Goodbye, Harry Potter."

Having said his piece, Dudley activated a portkey and disappeared into a small vortex of light.

* * *

Over the last decade, he had grown stronger than any other person he'd ever known. He was already Voldemort's equal when he was marked at the age of one, by virtue of having a sliver of Voldemort's soul attached to his own. Dumbledore had bound his magic when he was placed with the Dursley family. Harry didn't know when or if Dumbledore planned to tell him about it, or perform the unbinding. In any case, Dumbledore had died before the final battle, and Harry had neither the knowledge, nor the ability to use the power inside him. In fact, his victory over Voldemort was solely a result of the chain of events orchestrated by Dumbledore. During his travels, he had discovered his power, and performed the unbinding himself. He had also trained rigorously to harness and control it. Now, he could confidently say that his power and skills far surpassed Dumbledore or Voldemort in their prime.

Yet, all his power could not miraculously save him from his wounds. All it could do was delay his death by slowing down the bleeding and counteracting the poison. He could've survived if he received some medical attention, but that was impossible at the moment.

A small tear went down his face, and he couldn't help but release a soft chuckle as he thought '_So ends the great Harry Potter. Lying in a pool of his own blood, on a deserted island… waiting to die… Alone._'

He chuckled again, as a random thought came into his mind '_I wonder if the Elder wand answers to Dudley now._'

Gathering his resolve, he thought to himself '_Well, there is only one thing left to do now._'

There were several items on his person that he didn't wish anyone to find after his death.

Despite what he had told his friends after the battle, he had not placed the Elder wand back in Dumbledore's tomb. He couldn't risk anyone going after it. He had also found the Resurrection stone in the forest, where he had dropped it. He already had the invisibility cloak. He had always carried the three items with him, although he refrained from using them.

'_The black flames of Amaterasu should be good enough to destroy most of the island along with my body and everything on me._'

He placed the Hallows before him, and cast the last spell of his life. He waited a few moments to ensure that the Hallows were destroyed, before he let go of his control over the spell. As soon as he did that, the flames seemed to explode as they spread across the island, and just as they were about to consume him, they steered away from him and seemed to converge upon a spot a few meters away. He watched with a curious expression as the flames continued to burn the island around him, but left a small circle around him. He couldn't even feel the blistering heat that should've been present.

His eyes widened a fraction as a lady gracefully stepped out of the converging flames. She took a few steps towards him and just stood there looking at him with a soft smile and a slight tilt to her head.

He took a moment to look her over, and realized that she was beautiful. He truly believed that he had never seen anyone that could come close to her beauty. She had a flawless face with fair skin, and her dark hair seemed to fall down to her waist with slight curls which waved in a non-existent wind as if they were weightless. She was wearing a white full-length dress which seemed to move just as the hair did, and her purple eyes seemed to twinkle with curiosity and delight.

He waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, he said "Well… they did say death was beautiful."

Her lips twitched and she let out a few melodious chuckles, saying "That's the first time somebody has said that upon seeing me. However, you are mistaken. I am not Death."

He couldn't help but give a small smile upon hearing her beautiful voice.

"Then who are you?" he asked.

Her smile widened a fraction as she replied, "No one of consequence."

He just stared at her for a second before countering, "You have, obviously, taken control of the spell I cast. Doing that to Amaterasu, when it's raging, is no easy feat. You are also, somehow, preventing me from feeling the heat from the fire. If that isn't enough, you just stepped out of those very flames; flames which are supposed to destroy everything in their path. Also, the pain from my wounds has disappeared. I say you are definitely someone of consequence."

She just smiled sweetly at him and said, "Names have power, Harry. Beings on my state of existence rarely give out their names, if ever."

Harry's eyes widened again, as he realized that he was speaking to a celestial being. He had come across references to such beings during his travels, but never any conclusive proof.

Her eyes seemed to twinkle as he connected the dots.

"Why are you here?" he asked in a confused tone.

"You just destroyed three items created by Death, using flames which haven't been unleashed upon this world in many millennia. You caught my attention." she replied in a matter-of-fact tone, her soft smile never leaving her face.

Harry couldn't stop a sheepish grin from coming on his face as he said, "Umm… I'm sorry…?"

Her lips twitched again as she said, "Don't be. I'm not angry."

They gazed upon each other for a few moments. Harry was still losing a lot of blood, despite not feeling the pain. His eyes were getting heavier. She stroked his hair gently, and asked, "Do you want me to save you?"

He felt energy flow through his body, and he knew it was her doing. It wasn't enough to save him; just enough to give him a few more minutes. He realized that she was still waiting for his answer.

She continued to stroke his hair as he thought about her offer. Getting his thoughts back into order, he looked up into her eyes, and gave her a gentle smile, saying "No. It's alright. Thank you for offering, and thank you for coming to see me. It lightens my heart to have someone here with me at this moment."

Her eyes twinkled as she asked, "I can do more than just save you, you know. Would you like a chance at a different life?"

"What do you mean?"

She waved her other arm in the air, and a small portal formed across from them, showing an image of a young child lying in bed. A beautiful red haired woman lay next to the child, singing him a lullaby while stroking his hair in a manner similar to how the celestial being next to him was stroking him. Looking closer at the image, his eyes widened to their extreme as he realized that the child looked just like him, when he was younger, and the red haired woman looked just like his mother did, when he saw her in the Mirror of Erised. He also noticed that his mother seemed to be crying softly as she sang the lullaby.

"What is this?" he whispered to the celestial next to him, without taking his eyes off the image floating in the air.

She waved her hand again, and the image disappeared. Harry continued to stare at the empty space for a few moments before composing himself and looked at her again.

She continued stroking his hair as she answered, "What you need to understand, Harry, is that your world is just a small planet in a tiny solar system, in a galaxy that is barely out of its diapers, in a universe that is only one amongst infinite others. A new universe is created at every moment. This phenomenon is what humans refer to as alternate dimensions. So we are currently in one dimension. In another one, you were never born; in another one, you're a girl; in another one, Voldemort won; and so on.

What you just saw was a dimension very similar to yours, with a few minor differences. The Harry Potter of that world was not chosen by Voldemort to be his equal. His home was attacked by death eaters after the Potters were betrayed, but they were able to fight them off. The most important thing for you, about that dimension, is that Harry Potter is a normal seven year old child whose parents are still alive. However, due to an accident, he is in a coma.

Now, if you wish, I can send you to that dimension to take the child's place. Essentially, your body will die in this dimension, however, your soul will be sent to that dimension to take his place. Your memories and power will remain intact. Of course, you will need to train again, to ensure that your new body is able to handle the energy."

Upon hearing her explanation, all he could do was gape at her, open-mouthed. She giggled and used her free hand to close this mouth. The action snapped his attention back to reality, and he asked her, "What will happen to the Harry of that dimension? I could never accept this chance knowing that I'll be forever denying someone a life altogether."

She smiled softly at him, and replied, "Regardless of your decision, the child is going to die in a few months. If you accept, you will be sent to his body. However, you'll only be able to wake up once his soul moves on. You can use this time to go through his memories, and understand the world you're in."

He closed his eyes as he considered her words. He couldn't think of any downside to what she was offering. '_I'll get to be with my parents. I'll have a family._' It was this thought that sealed the deal for him.

He looked at her and said, "Yes. I would like that."

She just looked into his eyes for a moment, before nodding. She smiled once more and touched his forehead saying, "Good luck, Harry."

"Thank you." Said Harry, as his eyes closed and the energy that was sustaining him, ran out.

She stood up, once she was certain that Harry had successfully passed over to the other dimension. She looked around at the flames. Her eyes flashed, and the flames swirled and exploded, forming a sky-high tower of black flames that could be seen around for miles. Within a few moments, the entire island along with everything on it had disintegrated into nothing. The water around the island rushed in to occupy the vacated space. The beautiful woman just floated there for a few minutes, looking around, before she faded out.

**End of Chapter 1**

Author's notes:

[1] Please review.

[2] No; Harry does not, and will not, have the Sharingan. He has traveled the world learning all kinds of magic. He has also researched ancient magic from various cultures. There will be other instances and references of powers/skills from other Stories/Anime, but no characters will be brought in from those worlds. This is a purely Harry Potter story.


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